Home ice reigns supreme in Highway 11 rivalry

If there was any momentum in this series, it was on the side of the Blades heading into game five as they had won back-to-back games, reversing the narrative from what happened in Prince Albert. Then in game five, the Raiders held court in a big way with a convincing 6-1 victory to put the Blades on the brink of elimination heading into Sunday’s game six in Saskatoon.

Ahead of game five, Blades head coach Mitch Love had no answer when asked about why the home teams keep winning.

“Honestly, I have no idea. It’s interesting. I guess you play all season like P.A. has to get home ice advantage and here’s their opportunity. At some point, somebody is [likely] going to have to win a road game to win this series. We’re hoping that’s us tonight,” Love said.

In front of a packed house of 3,289 fans on Friday night, the Raiders got back in the swing of things and solved the riddle that Nolan Maier had presented the previous two games.

The Raiders beat Maier six times on 25 shots, after scoring just once on 70 shots in Saskatoon.

In three games at the Art Hauser Centre, Maier has stopped 79 of 93 shots faced [0.849 save percentage], but at home in Saskatoon it’s been a different story with a save percentage of 0.986.

Maier’s counterpart, Eastern Conference Goaltender of the Year Ian Scott, has been steady all throughout the series no matter the venue. In Prince Albert, Scott has stopped 73 of 77 shots faced [0.948]. In Saskatoon, he’s turned aside 60 of 64 shots [0.938].

Beyond the goaltending performances, Prince Albert has outscored the Blades 15-4 in the Art Hauser Centre, outshooting them 96-77 through three games. The Raiders have scored four times on 13 power play opportunities [30.8%], while killing eight of nine penalties [88.9%].

Down the road in Saskatoon, the Blades have outscored Prince Albert 5-1, while the Raiders have kept the edge in shots 70-65. On special teams, the Raiders haven’t scored on five power play opportunities, and have killed six of seven penalties [85.7%].

A critical part of the Blades success at SaskTel Centre was obviously the performance of Maier, but Raiders head coach Marc Habscheid said there was no need to panic after a brief scoring slump heading into game five.

“I just told the guys ‘just play.’ They were trying to play a perfect game [to start game five], and we hadn’t scored so we were trying hard to score, all those emotions come in and they care. No doubt it’s an important game, so we never had to worry too much about them not trying hard enough. It was a point of trying too hard and being too careful, so we told them after the first period [in game five] to just play,” Habscheid said.

Things broke open in the second period as the Raiders scored three times on their way to a 6-1 final and a 3-2 series lead.

On Sunday, the Raiders have a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Final with a win in enemy territory, while the Blades hope this geographical trend continues.

Game six goes Sunday at 4 p.m. at SaskTel Centre. All the action will be broadcast live on CKBI, with pregame coverage beginning at 3 p.m.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden

by Trevor Redden

Home ice reigns supreme in Highway 11 rivalry

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